Products equipped with Lithium Ion batteries run the risk of limited shelf life due to current draining from the Lithium Ion battery into the device and then exposing the battery to a detrimental low voltage condition. This can occur both in the original shipment of the product, its life of the store shelf or during its life time during periods of infrequent usage.
Various mechanisms have been used to address this issue. In some devices, the Lithium battery is not installed by the device manufacturer; an end user must install the battery before using the device. In other cases, pull tabs are applied to one or both battery terminals to disconnect the battery from its circuitry. In this case, the end user must remove the pull tab before first usage. These steps require initial user intervention before the device can be used.